By Carra Sahler

When I try to conjure up an image that captures what it is to have “good judicial temperament” it is Judge Garr M. King who comes to mind. A man who embodied kindness and thoughtfulness, he was decisive, fair, diligent, and empathetic as well. I had the pleasure and joy of working for Judge King for 12 years, nearly two-thirds of his service on the federal bench. His service started with his appointment by President Clinton in 1998 and ended with his death on February 5, 2019. Those who knew him called him Mike—asking for Garr on the phone marked the caller as a stranger. But to his staff he was simply Judge—a respected and respectful decision maker.

Former partners, former adversaries, counsel
to parties in federal court, and friends could find him at the Multnomah
Athletic Club every morning. Early in his career on the bench, he played tennis
(he once played with Justice Sandra Day O’Connor at the Ninth Circuit’s tennis
tournament), and later on he swam. They could find him with Mary Jo, his wife
of over 60 years (who passed away just weeks after he did), at bench and bar
events many evenings. He told me he knew some judges felt they should be
careful about socializing with attorneys, but he thought it was important
because he never wanted to forget what it was like to be a practicing lawyer.

Everyone experienced that respect when
appearing before him. Although he wanted to move cases along—indeed, he cleared
his desk before leaving for home each night—he never insisted on deadlines for
the sake of deadlines, remembering what it felt like to be at the mercy of the
court. When anyone asked him about the most difficult part of his job, without
hesitation he said sentencing defendants in criminal cases. He pored over
sentencing materials to ensure he handed down the most reasonable and
appropriate sentence, and he often received thank you letters from individuals
grateful to him for the fair hearing he gave them.

In my first year as his law clerk, fresh
from serving as an associate at a large law firm, I remember discussing some
piece of business—a draft opinion or the details of a hearing we had just
left—when Judge gave me a review, of sorts. Never a pre-arranged affair, his
reviews of my work seemed to come periodically and just when I needed feedback
and support. After praising me, he mentioned as an aside that this was a good
place to have a family. I appreciated his candor and knew it came from a place
of experience; he greatly valued the company of his seven children and thirteen
grandchildren. After my son was born, Judge invited my husband and me to his
house. We arrived and Mary Jo—always the consummate hostess—promptly offered a
tour of their beautiful home overlooking the city and Mt. Hood. I set my son
down, still buckled into his car seat, to look around the house. When I turned
around, Judge had my infant in his arms, walking him around the deck, patting
him on the back. Add gentle to the list of Judge’s characteristics.

I haven’t captured Judge’s financial
acumen and recognized trial skills. Straight
out of law school, he secured his first legal job working at the Multnomah
County District Attorney’s Office. District Attorney George Van Hoomissen learned
Judge was in the top of his class at Lewis & Clark Law School and wanted
him for his staff. From the beginning of his legal career as a deputy DA, Judge
was trying cases. Every subsequent professional opportunity offered to him came
about because of his ability to try a case well. He became an associate at
Morrison & Bailey because the DA told Bill Morrison that Judge was a good
trial lawyer. Five years later, Judge’s trial skills so impressed opposing
counsel Jack L. Kennedy that he approached Judge and asked if he was interested
in forming a partnership—thus began Kennedy & King. In 1984, deemed a trial
lawyer “unquestionably and eminently qualified” and the best in his state,
Judge was nominated and inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers in
1984, a membership of which he was exceedingly proud.

Judge Ed Leavy, Carra Sahler, and Judge Garr King in 2012

Judge knew he wanted to be a trial judge
because of his experience trying cases in the District of Oregon. As Judge said
in his oral history, “Being a federal judge is one of the best jobs you can
have in the legal system.” In fact, Judge
often likened his job to getting paid to eat ice cream. I’ll miss Judge’s
masterful trial skills, his common sense, and his genuine kindness, but above
all I’ll miss his contagious love for his work. And when I eat ice cream, I’ll
think of him.

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